It is now common for persons in homes and businesses to send and receive data through a connection to one or more high speed data networks. For example, various telecommunications operators provide High-Speed Internet (HSI) service to subscribing customers. The number of HSI customers is growing, and many customers are using HSI service for longer periods and/or for more purposes. Although many operators have systems with very substantial capacity, network bandwidth remains a finite resource that must be shared among numerous subscribers. Other network resources that must be shared by those numerous subscribers include routers, gateways, servers and other discrete network elements, physical and/or logical ports at such network elements, cables (optical, coaxial, or otherwise) interconnecting network elements, etc.
Because most network resources are finite, system operators often develop sets of rules to determine which users and/or services are allowed to use various resources, which users and/or services receive priority, etc. These rule sets, or “policies,” have conventionally been based on isolated aspects of network operation. As a result, conflicts between policies can occur.